World Cup of Shame?: The Ugly Side of the Game

Lauren looks at the controversy surrounding the 2022 FIFA World Cup and Qatar’s treatment of migrant workers.

After Amnesty International dubbed the upcoming FIFA world cup the ‘Qatar World Cup of Shame’, this article aims to explore the controversies surrounding this year’s tournament.

 

For decades the FIFA world cup has been one of the most viewed sports tournaments in the world, with the 2018 competition being watched by a combined 3.57 billion viewers. Now, with less than 50 days to go till the 2022 tournament, FIFA bosses are expecting this year to be its biggest yet,  reaching over 5 billion viewers.  FIFA president Gianni Infantino defends the choice of Qatar as the 2022 host, maintaining that the sport ‘will help change the perspective of Qatar’.

 

However, since 2010 when Qatar was successful in their bid for the 2022 tournament, only controversy has followed. The initial controversies included the lack of football related infrastructure in the nation and the issue of the weather’s impact on playing conditions. Yet, FIFA chose to circumvent these fundamental issues by making the executive decision to make it a winter tournament. With Qatar also committing to building seven new stadiums, hotels and other training facilities in order to host the tournament.

 

Source: Marhaba.qa

 

In 2013, a bigger shadow of doubt was cast over the choice host nation when serious accusations were made against the Qatari government regarding the treatment of workers hired to refurbish the Khalifa Stadium in Doha as well as build the ‘Aspire Zone’ in surrounding areas. This zone was to include other sporting facilities as well as the construction of more accommodation. Amnesty International reported ‘serious exploitation’ of migrant workers, who were subjected to gruelling manual labour, insufficient pay and unsatisfactory living standards. The reports proved the Qatari government were showing no active commitment to fundamentally improving their human rights standards, like they had promised to FIFA in 2010.

 

Along with accusations of forced labour, accounts of workers stated they were forced to sign false statements that they had received their wages to regain their passports. One Nepalese worker revealed to Amnesty that once he was paid months after entering the country, he was earning the equivalent of US$190 a month. Regarding living conditions, Qatari law and the Workers Welfare standards allow for a maximum of four beds per room, prohibited bed sharing and the use of bunk beds. However, Amnesty revealed workers were living in cramped, dirty and unsafe conditions, with men sleeping on bunk beds and living in rooms of 8 or more people.

 

Source: Amnesty International

For one of the richest countries in the world, many migrant workers were being treated like they were sub-human, deprived of pay and left struggling to survive and provide for their families – a ruthless exploitation. It wasn’t until 2014, when a video emerged of the ‘employed’ migrant workers in Doha living in unsanitary and dilapidated conditions, that the issue became more prominent in the Western media headlines. Several human rights organisations in collaboration with FIFA have publicly condemned the worker abuse, promising that reforms will be implemented. However, the extent of success is up for debate.  In 2021, a Guardian article reported that more than 6,500 migrant workers from India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka have died in Qatar since it won the right to host the World Cup 10 years ago. The number is expected to be higher due to the amount of deaths that have gone unreported.

 

The controversies regarding Qatar’s views on homosexuality also gained significant attention, and for good reason. Currently in Qatar they repress the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people and punish same-sex relations with up to 7 years in prison. Due to homosexuality being illegal in the host nation, it placed a lot of question marks surrounding the safety of the LGBT+ community, whether it be attendees, players, workers or managerial staff. Rumours and allegations started to circulate that Qatar had planned to introduce ‘medical screening tests’ to ‘detect’ and ban homosexuals from entering the country. However, the 2022 FIFA committee debunked this statement, saying no such screenings exist, instead the idea stemmed from Kuwait, not Qatar.

 

Countries have been choosing ways to ‘boycott’ without withdrawing from the competition in various ways.  Denmark and their designer Hummel created three ‘toned down’ kits to draw attention to the migrant worker abuse. In September the team released a statements showing their trio of strips, one white, one red and the third one being black to act as a symbol for the workers who died.

 

Moreover, nine European nations, including England and Wales, have chosen to wear the ‘One Love’ captain armbands in a stand against the Qatari governments stance on homosexuality. However, there are debates currently circulating on whether or not the armbands will be banned at the tournament.  Defending champions, France, have decided to take a different stance where many cities in the country are not broadcasting the game on large screens in the infamous ‘fan zones’, including Paris. The deputy mayor of Paris defended the choice as the ‘conditions in which these facilities have been built  are to be questioned’, with the Qatar model ‘going against everything that Paris, as hosts of the 2024 Olympics wants to organise’.

 

Source: BBC

The Qatari government have spent an estimated $200bn on creating their World Cup and there is no doubt it will be a spectacular competition. In what could be the last time we see some of the greats like Messi and Ronaldo play a tournament of this magnitude for their country, it should not be a competition riddled with accusations of bribery, reports of abuse and deaths of workers building the very facilities the matches will be getting played in.

Comments

comments

133 thoughts on “World Cup of Shame?: The Ugly Side of the Game

  1. Hi there would you mind letting me know which hosting company you’re using? I’ve loaded your blog in 3 different internet browsers and I must say this blog loads a lot quicker then most. Can you suggest a good web hosting provider at a honest price? Thank you, I appreciate it!

  2. Pingback: Lincoln Georgis
  3. Pingback: Arie Baisch
  4. Hey There. I discovered your weblog the usage of msn. This is a really well written article. I will make sure to bookmark it and return to read extra of your useful information. Thanks for the post. I?ll definitely comeback.

  5. Thanks for the posting. My spouse and i have often noticed that the majority of people are needing to lose weight when they wish to appear slim and also attractive. Having said that, they do not constantly realize that there are other benefits just for losing weight additionally. Doctors say that over weight people suffer from a variety of illnesses that can be directly attributed to their particular excess weight. Thankfully that people that are overweight as well as suffering from numerous diseases can help to eliminate the severity of the illnesses by simply losing weight. It’s possible to see a steady but notable improvement in health if even a bit of a amount of weight loss is accomplished.

  6. Pingback: valentines gift
  7. Thank you for the sensible critique. Me and my neighbor were just preparing to do some research about this. We got a grab a book from our local library but I think I learned more clear from this post. I am very glad to see such excellent info being shared freely out there.

  8. Pingback: Click Here
  9. Pingback: Click Here
  10. Pingback: Click Here
  11. Pingback: Click Here
  12. Pingback: Click Here
  13. Pingback: Click Here
  14. Pingback: Click Here
  15. Pingback: Click Here
  16. Pingback: Click Here
  17. Pingback: Click Here
  18. Pingback: Click Here
  19. Pingback: Click Here
  20. Pingback: Click Here
  21. Pingback: Click Here
  22. Pingback: Click Here
  23. Pingback: Click Here
  24. Pingback: Click Here
  25. Pingback: Click Here
  26. Pingback: Click Here
  27. Pingback: Click Here
  28. Pingback: Click Here
  29. Pingback: Click Here
  30. Pingback: Space ROS
  31. Pingback: Click Here
  32. Pingback: Click Here
  33. Pingback: Click Here
  34. Pingback: Click Here
  35. Pingback: Click Here
  36. Pingback: Click Here
  37. Pingback: Click Here
  38. Pingback: Click Here
  39. Pingback: Click Here
  40. Pingback: Click Here
  41. Pingback: Click Here
  42. Pingback: Click Here
  43. Pingback: Click Here
  44. Pingback: Click Here
  45. Pingback: Click Here
  46. Pingback: Click Here
  47. Pingback: Click Here
  48. Pingback: Click Here
  49. Pingback: Click Here
  50. Pingback: Click Here
  51. Pingback: Click Here
  52. Pingback: Click Here
  53. Pingback: Click Here
  54. Pingback: Click Here
  55. Pingback: Click Here
  56. Pingback: Click Here
  57. Pingback: Click Here
  58. Pingback: Click Here
  59. Pingback: Click Here
  60. Pingback: Click Here
  61. Pingback: Click Here
  62. Pingback: Click Here
  63. Pingback: Click Here
  64. Pingback: Click Here
  65. Pingback: Click Here
  66. Pingback: Click Here
  67. Pingback: domain-broker
  68. Pingback: Google reviews
  69. Pingback: 2023 Books
  70. Pingback: marriage records
  71. Pingback: obituary
  72. Pingback: IRA Empire
  73. Pingback: Chirurgie Tunisie
  74. Pingback: Alumni network
  75. Pingback: Campus facilities
  76. Pingback: Faculty expertise
  77. Pingback: Immunizations
  78. Pingback: Rota evaporators
  79. Pingback: Faculty Grievances
  80. Pingback: innovation
  81. Pingback: Oral Health

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

THE STAND